i'm jay gray, veronica, back to you. >> jay gray in cape canaveral. >>> in a florida courtroom yesterday casey anthony was sentenced to four years behind bars for lying to police investigating her daughter caylee's death. the maximum punishment for the four misdemeanor charges. she looked relaxed awaiting a judge's decision and remained stoic after learning she wasn't going home just yet. factoring in time off for good behavior. initial calculations projected a release date of next wednesday. however, prison officials later push that had date back to july 17th. >>> in texas, tragedy struck at the ballpark yesterday when a fan took a fatal fall over the railing while trying to catch a baseball. let's go to nbc's fred rogan? >> almost a year to the day a man fell out of the stands in arlington, texas, and suffered a fracture skull, it happened again. this time the man died. as that man was trying to catch it, he tumbled over the railing and fell 20 feet. he was conscious when paramedics arrived. the team announced afterwards he died at a local hospital. the ranger president said the team w

i'm jay gray. veronica, back to you. >> jay gray, thank you so much. >>> in a florida courtroom yesterday casey anthony was sentenced to four years behind bars for lying to investigators. the maximum punishment for the four charges she was convicted of. she looked relaxed as she sat with her legal team and remains stoic after learning she wasn't going home just yet. factoring in time off for good behavior, initial calculations are a release date of next wednesday. prison officials later pushed that date whaback to july 17th. >>> in texas tragedy struck when a fan took a fatal fall over the railing while trying to catch a baseball. fred roggin has the details. fred? >> thank you, veronica. in an eerie coincidence almost a year to the day that man fell out of the stands in arlington and suffered a fractured skull, it has happened again only this time the fan died. josh hamilton throwing the ball to the fans. if that man was trying to catch it. he tum beld over the railing and fell 20 feet. a witness

jay gray joins us from cape canaveral. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning to you, veronica. yeah, launch teams continue to go through their preparations here getting ready for what they hope is the final shuttle launch here in atlantis's launching pad, and so far they're working no technical issues. i the weather you talked about that seems to be the biggest problem that they face at this point. yesterday the clouds moved in, and so did the rain. a little bit of lightning out near pad 39a, but nothing affected. there everything still safe and ready to go. the forecasters continued to look at the conditions. they continue to report back to mission control, and right now i can say it's still at 70% no go. a 70% chance that atlantis will not launch today. that has not stopped close to a million people from flooding into the space coast hoping to get one final glimpse at history. right now it looks like that history, though, may be delayed, veronica. >> jay gray, thank you. >>> in a florida courtroom yesterday case

no evidence to connect casey anthony to caylee's death ignores all of this evidence. >> reporter: jay gray, nbc news, orlando. >>> executives at exxonmobil have acknowledged that an oil spill in the yellowstone area could have spread further than previously thought. at a press conference yesterday, exxonmobil's president vowed to do whatever is necessary to clean up tens of thousands of gallons of spilled crude. earlier the country had downplayed estimates the oil had spread over dozens of miles in the famed waterway, insisting only a ten-mile area had been contaminated. >>> now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. a pennsylvania collector displayed a rare copy of the declaration of independence that he bought at a flea market for $100. a curator determined it is one of the group of the 19th century copies, the making of which actually damaged the original document. its wooden frame was made from beams from independence hall. >>> a group of california chefs thinks they added sizzle to the guinness world record books with their creation of a super sized burger.

jay gray, nbc news, orlando. >>> now here's a look at some other stories making news "early today" in america. a violent thunderstorm tore through washington, d.c. yesterday, where a 56-year-old cyclist was killed by a falling tree limb. at one point in the afternoon, police cleared spectators off the capital's west lawn where preparations for today's big independence day concert were under way. fortunately, the weather cleared up in time for the evening rehearsal. >>> elsewhere across the country, several cities held their fourth of july fireworks displays a day early. sparks flew at the annual red, white and boom festival in florida. while crowds in kansas city and columbus, ohio, took in an equally awesome spectacle of color. and in los angeles, experts were busy setting up what they say will be the fastest firing display in town. the hour-long show at l.a.'s coliseum will light up the sky with 2,000 aerial shells and 8,100 bombardment effects for a truly spectacular pyrotechnics display. >>> and thousands of people in seattle took to the streets for an unusual independence day tra

for more on that, we go to nbc's jay gray. he's outside kennedy space center with more. jay, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, lynn. weather conditions here, perfect along runway 15 as "atlantis" begins the last trip home. >> for what is expected to be the final time in orbit, the bay doors are closed and latched. >> reporter: nasa prepares for not only the end of a mission but the close of an amazing era. >> it's been the heart and soul of the human space flight program for about 30 years and it's a little sad to see it go away. >> reporter: an emotion shared by the support team on the ground. >> they have a lot to be proud of in terms of the many accomplishments of the space shuttle. >> reporter: construction of the international space station, the launch and repair of the hubble telescope, support missions and so many experiments stretching the bounds and knowledge and now stretching the emotions of those who made the program their life's work. >> it's going to be tough. it's going to be an emotional moment for those who have dedicated their lives to the

nbc's jay gray has more. >> reporter: the blazing summer sun is delivering heat -- >> it's super hot. >> reporter: -- and havoc across a huge cross-section of the country right now. the national weather service has issued a heat advisory in at least 23 states, with an excessive heat warning across parts of ten states in the south and midwest. >> this is some oppressive and dangerous heat. >> reporter: dangerous and deadly. a 51-year-old illinois man suffered a fatal heatstroke. investigators say his air conditioner was broken. hundreds lined up in oklahoma city looking for help with their electric bills and a little bit of relief. >> we have fans. you know, if the electric isn't on, the air doesn't work, so hot air blowing in. >> reporter: hot area over 100 degrees that's been in the area for 14 straight days now and that forecasters say will linger for at least another week. >> what we have is a gigantic easy-bake oven that we're living in right now. >> reporter: while in new york, central park is sizzling. the city plans to open 450 cooling centers. from ice cream to fountains and s

jay gray is outside the courthouse in orlando. >> reporter: their attorneys now will present their final arguments. the final day began with a montage of pictures of caylee anthony and outlining what he described as a web of lies that led to the little girl's death. >> casey anthony may change her lies until they absolutely cannot be maintained anymore. >> reporter: ashton laid out the day-by-day narrative. >> she knew that that night she would be in the arms of her boyne friend and caylee would be dead. >> reporter: casey anthony, first shaking her head then turning away and crying as pictures of caylee's remains were shown to the jury and the prosecution described the scene. >> this is the bag that caylee was found in. this is what, i guess you could say this was her coffin. >> reporter: after a little over an hour, defender jose baez got his chance to refuse the state's case. >> the strategy behind that is, if you hate her, if you think she's a lying, no good slut, then you'll start to look at this evidence in a different light. >> reporter: he says it was based on emotion and bias in

jay gray, nbc news, orlando. >>> the u.s. government reaches its credit limit on august 2nd. if congress doesn't do something before then, uncle sam won't be able to pay his bills. that is bad news for our nation's credit rating and our ability to keep borrowing. lawmakers have been at an impasse over dealing with the so-called debt ceiling. now a couple of key republicans are suggesting possible ways forward. nbc's brian moare has more from washington. >> reporter: congress has less than a month to raise uncle sam's credit limit. lawmakers are locked in a battle over a long-term cure for the financial fix. democrats want to raise money. republicans are demanding massive cuts. now a couple of key republican lawmakers are suggesting possible ways to compromise. >> jon kyl was in negotiations as you know with the vice president. he said there were certain revenue raisers and other areas that perhaps we could work on. >> reporter: senator john mccain won't say exactly what revenue raisers are. but he says he and some other republicans aren't necessarily opposed. it sounds a lot

jay gray starts us off from orlando, florida. >> as to the charge of first-degree murder, not guilty.porter: after more than six weeks of testimony and more than 400 items entered as evidence -- >> as to the charge of aggravated child abuse, not guilty. >> reporter: decision was quick. the jury deliberating less than 11 hours and delivering a resounding message. >> as to the charming of aggravated manslaughter of a child, not guilty. >> reporter: overwhelming nerves shifted quickly to tears and celebration as the verdict was read. at one point casey anthony could be seen saying thank you, but there have always been two different and very distinct aspects to this case. what happened inside courtroom 23. >> she's not guilty. >> not guilty. >> and the reaction outside. >> this is wrong. this is bad. >> reporter: the end was no different. so many who had followed this high-profile case for so long stunned, many angered by the outcome. >> this is no justice. this is incredible. >> reporter: prosecutors jeff ashton and linda drane burdick who said so much during the trial remained silent af

jay gray, nbc news, orlando. >>> well, we escaped disaster down at the fireworks display. but little sprinkles here and there. >> yes. there was a fireworks show that was canceled. i watched one little shower coming over them earlier. there are a couple of showers out there right now. if you had anything to do out there today, a few people on the potomac, what would you do? how about this? you tell me yes or no? >> skiing? >> how about skiing on july 4th in the sierra? why not, right? a beautiful day out there. plenty of sunshine and just enough -- >> there you go. >> that guy apparently has his own sweater. look at that. just amazing. 91 degrees, the high temperature today across the area. we did see very warm and humid conditions even though we saw a lot of cloud cover during the day. today was the fourth day this month, so far every day has been at least 90 degrees or above and we are going to be staying quite humid over the next couple of days. 82 degrees out there right now. very warm, very humid. winds out of the west, southwest at about 6 miles per hour. other areas

live in orlando, i'm jay gray. dorene, back to you. >> well, jay, if it seems clear that she's not going to her parents' home, if she is released tomorrow, any indications about where she would go? >> reporter: it's interesting. we don't know where it will be. we know it will be out of the spotlight for the first time in almost three years. her defense team has said that even before the verdict was read, before they knew what was happening, they had a plan in place to get her out and get her to a secluded area. in fact, her attorney, jose baez, said she needs some time to, a., grieve the loss of her child, and b., get back on her feet after being in jail for three years. so they apparently have a plan in place. they're not telling anyone what that may be. and you can understand why. but, yeah, they say they're going to get her out of the spotlight, away from the glare of the television cameras. >> more tomorrow. jay gray, reporting from orlando. thank you, jay. >> thanks. >>> the creator of the dukan diet just lost

nbc's jay gray has the latest from orlando. >> reporter: with pictures and video of caylee anthony framing his closing arguments, prosecutor jim ashton describes the web of lies the state alleges led to the girl's death. >> casey anthony maintains her lies until they absolutely cannot be maintained anymore. >> reporter: and provided a day by day narrative of how they believe it happened. >> she knew that that night she would be in the arms of her boyfriend and that caylee would be dead. >> the way the case was presented the first couple weeks. >> reporter: defense attorney jose baez fired back. >> if you hate her, if you think she's a lying no good slut, then you'll start to look at this evidence in a different light. >> reporter: baez said the lies and questionable behavior were the result of a dysfunctional family that hid secrets, including the fact that casey was pregnant. >> this is outrageous! >> reporter: he challenged state witnesses, evidence, and every key element of the prosecution's case. as the emotion and tension in the courtroom grew, he challenged ashton as well. >> dependi

jay gray has our report. >> reporter: the countdown continues tonight at kennedy space center, every second a step closer to a rendezvous with history. >> it has been remarkable with what it's been able to accomplish. it has been stunning in terms of what we have learned from it, and that knowledge will then go into building the next vehicle. >> reporter: from a technical standpoint, mission managers say all systems are go for friday morning's launch. >> the vehicle's in fantastic shape. got keyed up and ready to go. they're doing everything perfect otime, on schedule, looking amazing. >> reporter: what doesn't look to amazing, though, is the forecast. this afternoon, there was a lightning strike near pat 39-a. >> weather is not looking good for launched. as you know, we've been talking about this for a few days now, and as you can see now the clouds have rolled in, we're starting to see some showers. we evhad a thunderstorm show up this morning. >> the clouds 'rain are also causing problems for spectators who travel to the space coast, as many as a million are expected hoping to see

jay gray, nbc news, orlando. >>> 4:39 is the time. members of congress are cutting their holiday break short today. the senate is coming back to deal with the country's looming debt limit deadline. members of the house get back to work tomorrow. democrats are still insisting the new revenue is a necessary part of the debt solution while republicans are still refusing anything that they consider to be a tax hike proposal. the nation would go into unprecedented default on its debt if the current $14.3 trillion cap is not raised by august the 2nd. >>> the secret service says it will investigate the hacking of fox news' political twitter account after tweets appeared saying president obama had been assassinated. the tweets appeared early monday morning, saying the president was shot to death in iowa. in reality, he was celebrating the fourth barbecuing at the white house. fox news posted a statement on its website calling the tweets malicious and false, and saying they're requesting a full investigation from twitter. an online group calle

casey anthony not guilty in the death of her little girl. >> that was jay gray reporting. stay with news 4 for our continuing coverage of the casey anthony verdict much we'll have more from jay gray and go live outside the courthouse in orlando in less than ten minutes. you can also comment any time on our website, nbcwashington.com or an facebook and twitter. >>> a mother in bristol, virginia is facing felony murder charges in the death of her 2-year-old son. court documents show karen murphy left her son in the family's minivan for more than seven hours last month. it's not the first time she had forgotten her child in the vehicle. murphy left her son unattended in the minivan outside her work back in january. it was for about 20 minutes before somebody spotted the boy. murphy is expected to turn herself in tomorrow when she appears in court. >>> just a few days after pleading guilty in a federal corruption investigation, leslie johnson resigned from the prince georges county council. she handed in her resignation today, but it does not take effect until july 31st, the l

today in the bay's jay gray is live at the kennedy space center where the shuttle program has come to an end. good morning, jay. >> reporter: good morning to you. that's tough to say "today in the bay's" jay gray. i'm very impressed. it's an amazing morning here at kennedy space center and also emotional morning as you might imagine. the touchdown was beautiful, it was picture perfect as was the entire mission. so many people proud of what they accomplished on this final flight. the final trip to the international space station for a shuttle. this is the spacecraft that helped build that space station and launched and repaired the hubble telescope, so many experiments and really expanding the boundaries of what we know and what we can do. it's also a sad time for so many who dedicated so much of their lives to this over the last three decades. as they see this chapter in american space exploration come to a close and the uncertainty of what will come next. nasa will focus on deep space work but that won't be manned for sometime. they hope to encounter an asteroid and mars in the next

jay gray, nbc news, orlando. >> if convicted in that first-degree murder case, casey anthony could get the death penalty. >>> back here in gaithersburg a family get-together turned deadly last night. now one man is charged with second-degree murder. 24-year-old brandon dashiell was arrested today. police say he assaulted 28-year-old justin eugene carter at a family gathering. the two men started arguing at a house on steven court, and police say dashiell hit carter in the head several times and left him unconscious. carter was rushed to the hospital, where he later died. >>> tonight a group of maryland parishioners is vowing to rebuild. lightning struck and started a fire at their mount area church. when firefighters arrived they found marvin chapel methodist on fire just hours before services were set to start this morning. lightning from last night's storm hit the steeple and caused extensive damage inside the century-old building. >> see the damage done inside of that building, it just takes your breath away to realize that it is nothing but just debris everywhere. >> the congregati

nbc's jay gray joins me in the newsroom with that part of the story. orning to you, jay. >> reporter: good morning to you, richard. yeah, as we saw throughout this trial and early this morning with her release, casey anthony has touched an emotional chord across the country. and as unique as this case may seem to be, there is actually a bit of history that may provide some insight into what comes next. as casey anthony walked out of the orange county jail, she followed in the footsteps of a group of high-profile defendants whose freedom has captured the attention -- >> not guilty -- >> reporter: -- and emotions -- >> justice for caylee. justice for caylee. >> reporter: -- of the country. >> there are many people who identify with the victims or even with the witnesses. and they feel very strongly about it. and it really becomes very passionate to them. >> not guilty of the crime of murder. >> reporter: but what about those accused and acquitted once the focus shifts to the next courtroom drama? o.j. simpson is currently serving time in a nevada state pr

jay gray has the latest. >> countdown has resumed. >> the countdown is clouded by concerns about the weather. >> the weather is not looking good for lunch. as you can see, the clouds have rolled in. we're starting to see some showers. >> cameras captured this lightning strike thursday afternoon. the weather is to not delay tanking procedures overnight. as many as 1 million spectators are expected to flood the coast for lunch. many camping out overnight for a prime spot in case the clouds break. >> to see it all live up. it is crazy, crazy good. >> as the clock continues to move, mission managers continued their final preparations, knowing the decision on the final shuttle flight may, from mother nature. right now she is not cooperating. whether officers say the forecast is still 70% no go for launch later this morning. jay gray, wbal-tv 11 news. >> that brings us to our water cooler question of the day. >> this morning we asked -- with the loss of the shuttle program, do you think the government should continue to invest in manned space flight, or allow it to be privatized? >> are yo

thomas. >> nbc's jay gray in oslo, norway for us this morning. thank you. >>> today we are learning some more about the motivation behind what spurred this alleged terrorist to attack as he did evan coleman, an msnbc analyst and a senior partner of flash point global partners. it's good to have you here, and as we're hearing from jay, the man confessing in court this morning. these heinous attacks, going to this elite school that he attended in norway. he was friendly to his neighbors. he played vamdz. he listened to pop music. from all outsiders looking in, he seems to be a relatively stable and normal young man. >> well, sort of. there are other indications out there that he may also be quite disturbed. i mean, we're looking -- we're learning more about the relationship he had with his father, who is a former norwegian diplomat living in france. the two of them haven't spoke news 10 years, and apparently the father was deeply disturbed to learn about this. this is someone who was estranged from his family, and we're going to have to figure out

with more on the story, nbc's jay gray. he is outside of the court. jay spoke exclusive to his attorney yesterday. what can you tell us? >> i'm actually inside the courthouse snack room, standing in a narrow hallway with about 200 of my new closest journalist friends here. the judge, right at this moment, is actually weighing whether this will be an open or closed case. meaning whether he will let the public and the media inside to listen. we know that the prosecution will request that the doors be closed. talking to people on the street, there's a lot of people in oslo who believe that the doors should be closed, because they don't want this man to get the chance to spread the message that he wants to spread today. it's a big decision. there's a lot of people here. you can imagine the frantic mood outside of the courthouse and inside this hallway. >> one of the details that jumped out over the last couple days to a lot of people was this number of 21 years. some people believethars for th death of at least 93 people if he is found dlt of that. but it'

nbc's jay gray reports now from orlando. of . >> verdict as to count one, we the jury find the defendant not guilty. >> reporter: the trial may be over, but the questions and controversy are not. >> i think that we all wanted the truth. and i think at the end we still don't have that. >> reporter: a truth that prosecutor jeff ashton fears will never be revealed. >> no, we never will. we never will. because even if -- even if casey got out of jail and wrote a book and said it, i don't know that any of us would really know if we could believe it or not. >> justice for caylee! >> reporter: just as hard for many to believe is how the jury reached its decision. so far, none of the active jurors has spoken publicly since the verdict, but an alternate is now providing some insight. >> the prosecution didn't present the evidence that would have sustained either a murder charge or a manslaughter charge. >> reporter: as casey anthony now prepares for sentencing on the four guilty counts of providing false information to law officers a

jay gray has the latest from orlando. >> reporter: after more than six weeks -- >> state's exhibit m>> reporter: of testimony -- >> that's correct. >> reporter: -- and tears. evidence and arguments. >> whether it's this laughing guy right here or whether it's myself. >> objection. >> sustained. approach the bench. >> reporter: the casey anthony murder case is now in the hands of the jury. >> they are now going to consider second degree murder, manslaughter, third degree felony murder and two types of first degree murder, by the way, premeditated and felony murder. they don't have to agree, as long as 12 think it's first degree murder. and then six other counts. so it is complicated. >> reporter: the prosecution got the last word this morning. >> to say there is no evidence to connect casey anthony to caylee's death ignores all of this evidence. >> reporter: the rebuttal to the closing argument from the defense first focused on science, then shifted to the accused. >> pathological liar. >> reporter: the state, again, using pictures, videos and casey anthony's phone calls from jail --

with all of the latest news i'm joined now by neighbors's jay gray live in oslo. nd that police visited breivik's farm and discovered even more explosives there. what on earth was this man planning? >> reporter: yeah. in fact, they did, martin, and bomb teams exploded the explosives that they found there, detonated those, but the bigger concern seems to be right now that there are a lot of chemicals, a lot of supplies missing, and they don't know where they are at this point, don't know if there's another bomb somewhere so they are trying to find out exactly where those chemicals are and what they may have been intended to be used for. it's a -- it's a very important part of the investigation right now, martin. >> the prime minister talked about wanting to come back with more democracy. what did he mean by that? did he mean, for example, that multi-culturalism as a philosophy is not going to be dropped within norway? >> that's absolutely what he meant and a graphic explanation of that, martin, is this behind me, a memorial that continues to grow in the people and h

teenagers and people working through the grief, but realizing it is going to takem so time. >> nbc's jay gray in oslo for us. jay, thank you. >> thanks. >>> one of the most terrifying things that ever happened to me in my life. >> a group of teen hikers recovering after a grizzly bear pounces on them in a seven-minute horrifying attack, and the teens will say why the hours after were worse than the attack, itself. >>> and first lady michelle obama praises mcdonald's for fighting childhood obesity and find out the changes of mickey d's. >>> some employers have a message for the jobless, don't bother applying for work. we will explain. ♪ly li will be taking care of business ♪ ♪ everyday taking care of business ♪ at liberty mutual, we know how much you count on your car and how much the people in your life count on you. that's why we offer accident forgiveness, man: good job. where your price won't increase due to your first accident. we also offer a hassle-free lifetime repair guarantee, where the repairs made on your car are guaranteed for life or they're on us. these are just two of the valua

nbc's jay gray has the very latest from oslo. jay, what are you hearing from the legal team? >> reporter: good evening. well they are saying the same thing that owl of his observations are insane but won't commit to using that as defense in this case. they also say that everyone trying to apply rational to an irrational situation won't work. they admit that there's a problem with their client. his manifesto, his defense lawyer said i don't want to talk about that. that's not something i want to do, i don't want that message spread. it's obvious that they're having problems defending him as well. it's a struggle for the defense team to do that. it's also a struggle for so many here in oslo. the makeshift memorial behind me continues to grow. hundreds of people coming down throughout the day. take a look behind me. you can see all the flowers here, a sea of flowers is what they're calling it, the candles, the poems, the flags they continue to bring them down day and night. people pausing some for hours. others for just minutes. andrea, they continue to cry, they continue to con

but as jay gray reports, weather in florida could delay that launch until this weekend. >> reporter: the end of an era rests on pad 39-a right now. >> looking amazing. it's a great way to head into this countdown. >> reporter: flight managers looking ahead to the final launch. >> the team is ready, prepared, everything is in the right spot. >> we have made it. >> reporter: while so many are looking back. >> when you think about space, you think about the space shuttle. >> the shuttle has cleared the tower. >> reporter: it's been an amazing ride. >> the vast majority of people who have ever been to space have been to space on board the space shuttle. >> reporter: three decades of stretching or limits and knowledge. >> we have flown 135 with our flight. the hubble space telescope, the international space station, launching probes to different planets, servicing satellites, you know, the space shuttle has just been an incredible machine. it's been everything we have asked it to do and more. >> reporter: but with that triumph has come tragedy and incredible pain. "challenger," "columbia"

nbc's jay gray is live for us in oslo. fill us in about what please are saying about the potential of these two cells. >> reporter: they're definitely looking into the possibility, though they still contend this was an act done by just breivik hiship. yeah, they want to know who he's associated with. his lawyer has said he's been involved with other cells. he wouldn't say what countries and wouldn't say how many, so that's where the investigation stands at this point, but police very curious to know who he has discussed things with and how this all caming to. >> jay gray, thank you. >>> a group of lucky teens are now telling their harrowing story. the boys say they were practices survival skills near a riverbed when the expedition turned into a nightmare. >> when i saw the bear initially, the bear was probably about 15 feet from the first hiker, and it pounced. >> the screaming that i could hear from my friends and the growls from the bear, which were loud and deep, and then the screamings were just helpless. i can still h

jay gray has the latest from orlando. >> reporter: after more than six weeks -- >> state's exhibit mony -- >> that's correct. >> reporter: -- and tears. evidence and arguments -- >> whether it's this laughing guy right here or whether it's myself. >> objection. >> sustained. approach the bench. >> reporter: the casey anthony murder case is now in the hands of the jury. >> they are going to consider second degree murder, manslaughter, third degree felony murder, and two types of first degree murder, by the way. premeditated and felony murder. they don't even have to degree on which it is, as long 12 think it's first degree murder, and six other counts. so it is complicated. >> reporter: the prosecution got the last word this morning. >> to say that there is no evidence to connect casey anthony to caylee's death ignores all of this evidence. >> reporter: the rebuttal to the closing argument from the defense first focused on science, then shifted to the accused. >> pathological liar. >> reporter: three times during the rebuttal, casey seemed to respond. the first as ashton talked about

nbc's jay gray is live at the launch. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, eun.are still watching the clouds hanging over pad 39a right now. weather watchers telling us still 70% no go at this point, but they continue to work through final preparations, getting ready in case there is a break in the clouds. those clouds you talked about, they are beginning to assemble. people camping overnight to try to get the best spot they could for a chance to get one last glimpse at history here. they'll continue to watch and see how things unfold here at the space coast. they'll have a meeting in about 15 minutes or so. the weather officers along with mission managers really to look at the long range forecast. when we talk about that, we'll look at long range until about 11:0. launch scheduled for 11:26 here. they'll stop the crew gearing up and getting into their suits at 7:06. they'll have a quick meeting. right now it looks as though they'll continue with that and go through the process and hope to get some kind of break in the weather here. if that is the case, this is t

i'm jay gray. to you, alex. >> okay, jay, thank you so much for that. >>> a chaotic and terrifying scene at a casino in auburn, washington. at 1:30 this morning a gunman opened fire wounding seven people, two of them critically. the armed man came in looking for his wife or girlfriend, found her with another man, then shot them both. the gunman then opened fire again, hitting five more people. he was arrested when he tried to flee. >>> democrats and republicans are in a major standoff today as the debt ceiling deadline rapidly approaches. white house chief of staff bill daley said the president will not accept a short-term deal to raise the debt ceiling, saying it will perpetuate uncertainty. this is what republicans are saying today. >> i understand why they're saying they won't sign a short term. but i think they won't have any choice, and i think that's the only answer right now. >> i would prefer to have a bipartisan approach to solve this problem. if that's not possible, i and my republican co

jay gray with the latest. >>> now to the weather where it's going to be another dangerously hot one. from the midwest to the plains to deep south. heat and drought are spreading. listen to this number. in july 882 record high temperatures have been set or tied across the united states over this weekend and the next. there appears to be little relief. nbc meteorologist bill karins joins me now with the forecast and all that four. good morning, bill. >> heat wave is the word of the week and this is going to be a massive one. let me show you what's happening first with our drought. this is the big story in oklahoma, texas, portions of kansas, new mexico and down along the gulf states. exceptionally dry. this is one of the worst droughts we've seen in the last 20 years. check out dallas. 107 yesterday in dallas. 105 oklahoma city. 105 wichita. you can to see where the worst of the drought is also where it's the hottest temperatures. there's no soil moisture to help keep it cool. the humidity isn't in the areas of the drought so much but areas just to the east of there. the humidity, thes

we join jay gray in oslo.is an extraordinary turnout of people wanting to pay respects to the victims there. >> yes, martin. it has been unbelievable and across the country, but here in oslo, i can tell you that more than 150,000, they say, came to the downtown area. let's take a look around so i can show you what i'm exactly talking about. we are at a makeshift memorial site that started over the weekend. there was a is service at the main cathedral sunday and a 12 foot by 12 foot block of candles and poems were there, and now it covers more than a city block and in fact, so many flowers here and so much here that police have asked people to stop bringing them and go to other memorial spots. these have been out into the street and taken over the street here and down into the corner and taken over that area, andçe have seen hundreds of people coming here to pay respects, crying, and pause for hours to pay respects. but as the evening grew over thousands gathered outside of the church. it has been an emotional

we have jay gray out there as well. can you imagine getting strapped into that and getting ready. very exciting. we'll keep tabs on whether it's going to take off or not. weather could be a factor. >> talking about this picasso. san francisco police nabbed their guy. mark lugo from new jersey is now in police custody. accused of snatching a picasso sketch from a union square g galle gallery. there was surveillance. that helped nab him. police say that is lugo with the work under his arm. he got in a cab. the cabbie led officers to lugo's hotel and further investigation led them to a napa apartment where he was eventually arrested. he apparently had the sketch in his possession. i understand it was taken out of the frame but it was not damaged. >> just 3 1/2 weeks left until the deadline to increase the national debt limit. republicans and democrats still far from a deal. democrats are opposing the cuts while republicans say they will not raise the debt ceiling without them. congressional leaders will return to the white house on sunday to resume those talks. for the rest of our ne

jay gray explains why objections were enough to delay the rebuttal. >> more legal bickering began friday proceedings that clearly tested the patience of the judge. >> i hope this is a real problem and not an imaginary problem. >> the debate centers on evidence, elements the defense says should not be allowed in court. >> the state wants to provide a scientist to challenge a defense expert who questioned the autopsy on caylee anthony said remains. the second issue surrounds testimony from casey's mom, cindy anthony. >> i started looking up for form and then corps of phil and that prompted me to look up or fill. l. to look up chloral fiophyl >> he said there were no hits during the keyword searches. >> the jury also heard from the chief compliance officer at a hospital where cindy anthony worked. >> prosecutors trying to show send it was at work instead of searching out a home computer as she claimed. >> this page rebuttal testimony ended today. there is no court tomorrow to put give lawyers time to prepare for the closing arguments that to get underway on sunday. an early victory for domi

jay gray has more. >> 1, 0 and lift off. >> shuttle atlantis rushing towards space on a rendezvous with history. up until the last few minutes with the countdown, there were serious questions about whether the final flight what happened today. but as the clouds cleared, so did the concern of mission managers, allowing them to give the all-clear for one last launch. parts dropped with the countdown on hold at 31 seconds over concerns about a technical issue that was quickly resolved. >> we are going to go ahead and proceed. >> the final flight is our restocking mission of sorts, atlantis delivering spare parts and supplies and scientific instruments for future term ends on the international space station. on the ground, one last glimpse of an important an amazing chapter in american space exploration. j. gray, nbc news, kennedy space center. >> we have collected your best photographs of the shuttle launches over the years. you can see the u local pictures on wbaltv.com. >> we certainly had interesting weather yesterday. we finally got a good amount of rain around the area, much- needed r

thank you so much, jay gray. . next, republican senator rob portman of the senate budget committee joining us. and the politicians of the debt ceiling. send me your thoughts on twitter. this is "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. this is larry. whose long day starts with arthritis pain... and a choice. take tylenol arthritis and maybe up to six in a day... or choose aleve and two pills for a day free of pain. happy chopping. he needs some gellin'. yeahhhhhhh. gellin' is like having a teeny tiny foot masseuse in your shoe. you like ? nice ! dr. scholl's massaging gel insoles. outrageous comfort, all-day long. >>> in the debt ceiling debate, how are senate republicans dealing with their brothers and sisters in the house caucus? that could be an interesting issue for senator rob portman who serves on the smath budget committee and was the budget director under president george w. bush. thanks for joining us today. the debt ceiling was raised when you were budget director presumably it's been raised so many types

with more, i'm joined by msnbc's jay gray in oslo, norway. >> good evening, martin.on in oslo, and start with the suspect in the case, anders breivik, and his attorney is speaking today, and he says that his client is doing this as part of a war. now, we talked to him a couple of days ago and he said that he was proud of what he had done during the attacks, and he expanded on that again today saying it is part of a war and that is why he should not be punished, and he should not go to jail for this crime. he wants to talk about the manifesto and the attorney refusing to do that, but he did reveal some interesting notes about that day. he says that first that the suspect was on some type of drug before the attack, and says he took that to stay alert, and active, during the afternoon, and he also said he did not believe he would ever make it to the island, and he didn't think he would get there to the shooting spree of the teenagers because he thought he would be stopped by police after the bombing here. so he says that it was a surprise that he made it to the island.

nbc's jay gray joins me now from oslo, and, jay, what's happened thus far? you're there near the courtroom? >> reporter: chris, i'm actually outside of the main cathedral here in oslo. you did a great job of describing two very different situations unfolding in this city right now. let's start with the court case. the judge has come out after that closed hearing to talk a little bit about what went on inside. he says that the suspect did, indeed, confess to the killings, but says that he should not be punished because he was in his words trying to stop muslim domination across western europe and also because he felt like that the labor party needed to be slowed down in this country. he is going to be held for at least eight more weeks, four of those in isolation, and then there will be another hearing to see how they move forward. the other side -- and you described it -- is this. all of the memorials ark you will of the people who have poured out to pay their respects to the victims and everybody affected here. this has grown immensely in the last couple of

jay gray, nbc news, orlando. >> and that is news4 at 5:00.s4 at 6:00 starts right now. >> you're watching nbc4, washington's news leader. now live in hd, this is "news4 at 6":00. >> a house fire in the district quickly spreads to other homes this afternoon. >>> shock and outrage tonight after a 4-year-old boy was shot by another young child. >>> thousands hitting the roads for the weekend at the national mall. however, preps are underway for the fourth. >>> we begin, though, with the fact that international monetary fund chief dominique strauss-kahn no longer is under house arrest. good evening. i'm jim bets.

for "today" jay gray, nbc news, new york. >>> up next, a boy's hero.ive interview with the 911 dispatcher of the child he saved from drowning. we'll hear the dramatic call after these messages. t ] [ announcer ] who could resist the call... of america's number-one puppy food brand? with dha and essential nutrients also found in mother's milk. purina puppy chow. but not your wrinkles. new neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair. its retinol formula smoothes wrinkles in just one week. why wait if you don't have to. neutrogena®. you get so hooked on feeling fresh, you'll want to pass it on to a friend. ♪ visit getfreshwithafriend.com. ♪ tell a friend about fresh and you'll both get a cottonelle fresh reward. so fresh is always at your fingertips. ♪ so go on, get fresh with a friend. you carry them around everywhere. yes i do, because cravings are everywhere. would you take a craving for me, cartwright? how would i -- exactly. [ male announcer ] nicorette mini goes wherever you go, to help make quitting suck less. [ male announcer ] nicorette mini goes wherever y

jay gray, wbal-tv 11 news. >> and jury deliberations could start as early as tomorrow afternoon. minnesota republican michelle bachmann grabbed breakfast and some handshakes at a diner in iowa today. bachmann sat down and had a bite to eat and spoke with people one-on-one. she is on a four-day visit to the state with the nation's first presidential caucuses. bachmann is leading in a recent poll along with former massachusetts governor mitt romney. reducing the nation's deficit and creating jobs topped president obama's weekly radio address today. >> democrats and republicans agree on the need to solve the problem. and over the last few weeks, the vice president and i have gotten both parties to identify more than $1 trillion in spending cuts. it means we'll have to start making some tough decisions and scale back worthy programs. nothing can be offlimits. >> the president added that while spending cuts are necessary, it can be done while making investments in education, research and technology that actually creates jobs. an impasse over the budget leads to a government shutdown i

. >> reporter: jay gray, nbc news, orlando. >>> having scrapped their plans to enjoy an expended fourth of july holiday, congress will be back this week to work to fix the nation's finances. tracie potts has more on that. good morning. >> good morning. the republicans have drawn a line saying no more borrowing until we cut spending ♪ by the dawn's early light >> you don't have to work the budget to take care of the debts. you've got to get your spending under control. >> reporter: they're dead set against raising taxes but some now say they'll consider closing loopholes. revenues raises, that's under design. >> i'm going to make sure that you have the support that you need in the field. >> reporter: democrats say spending cuts are not enough. >> we cannot achieve the kind of deaf sigs reduction everyone agrees we need without a tax increase. >> reporter: they may not be able to pay its bills. who will give in? >> i think republicans have more to lose, so i think eventually the president will move close irto the republican position. the republicans signaled they may support a short-term